Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 21 December 2016 — Council of the European Union v Front populaire pour la libération de la saguia-el-hamra et du rio de oro (Front Polisario), European Commission
(Case C-104/16 P) 1
(Appeal — External relations — Agreement between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco concerning liberalisation measures on agricultural and fishery products — Decision approving the conclusion of an international agreement — Action for annulment — Admissibility — Locus standi — Territorial scope of the agreement — Interpretation of the agreement — Principle of self-determination — Principle of the relative effect of treaties)
Language of the case: French
Parties
Appellant: Council of the European Union (represented by: H. Legal, A. de Elera-San Miguel Hurtado and A. Westerhof Löfflerová, acting as Agents)
Other parties to the proceedings: Front populaire pour la libération de la saguia-el-hamra et du rio de oro (Front Polisario) (represented by: G. Devers, avocat), European Commission (represented by: F. Castillo de la Torre, E. Paasivirta and B. Eggers, acting as Agents)
Interveners in support of the applicants: Kingdom of Belgium (represented by: C. Pochet and J.-C. Halleux, acting as Agents), Federal Republic of Germany (represented by: T. Henze, acting as Agent), Kingdom of Spain (represented by: M. Sampol Pucurull and S. Centeno Huerta, acting as Agents), French Republic (represented by: F. Alabrune, G. de Bergues, D. Colas, F. Fize and B. Fodda, acting as Agents), Portuguese Republic (represented by: L. Inez Fernandes and M. Figueiredo, acting as Agents), Confédération marocaine de l’agriculture et du développement rural (Comader) (represented by: J.-F. Bellis, M. Struys, A. Bailleux, L. Eskenazi and R. Hicheri, avocats)
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Sets aside the judgment of the General Court of the European Union of 10 December 2015, Front Polisario v Council (T-512/12, EU:T:2015:953);
Dismisses the action brought by the Front populaire pour la libération de la saguia-el-hamra et du rio de oro (Front Polisario) as inadmissible;
Orders the Front populaire pour la libération de la saguia-el-hamra et du rio de oro (Front Polisario) to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the Council of the European Union;
4. Orders the Kingdom of Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, the Portuguese Republic, the European Commission and the Confédération marocaine de l’agriculture et du développement rural (Comader) to bear their own respective costs.
____________1 OJ C 111, 29.3.2016.